Good morning, here are Tuesday’s political law links (1/22/13)

NELSON: SENIOR ADVISER. Politico. “Former Sen. Ben Nelson, who retired from the upper chamber just weeks ago, will be joining public affairs firm Agenda as a senior adviser, POLITICO has learned.”

ORGANIZING FOR ACTION I.Politico. “When Obama for America relaunches next week as a tax-exempt organization, it will become exactly what Democrats have reviled over the last two years: a massive, powerful force in politics that doesn’t have to reveal anything about the donors behind it.”

ORGANIZING FOR ACTION II.LAT. “Underscoring its potential to become a political heavyweight, a new advocacy group launched Friday to push President Obama’s second-term agenda will be guided by his most-trusted strategists and have access to his reelection campaign’s most-prized assets, including its intricately detailed voter databases.”

OFA III. TPM. “As a 501(c)4, Organizing for Action will be organized under the same section of the tax code as the so called ‘dark money’ organizations which raised and spent millions of anonymous dollars mostly supporting Republicans in the 2012 election, and which have been vilified by Democrats, progressives, and campaign finance reform advocates.”

OFA IV.Politico. “‘This particular organization, the way it’s organized, legally, we can’t participate in elections,’ Cutter said of Organizing for Action, a new advocacy group that builds on the Obama campaign’s Organizing for America. ‘That doesn’t mean that the issues we’re organizing around won’t mobilize the American people to vote for things. To vote for that economy we’ve been working toward, to vote for immigration reform… I think we can affect elections even if legally we can’t be involved with them for this particular organization.'”

OFA V. Story here. “In a new email sent after taking the oath of office, President Obama thanked his longtime supporters — and encouraged them to get involved in his new nonprofit group Organizing for Action.”

INAUGURAL ACTIVITY.The Post. “Administration officials have said the loosened donation rules were designed to reach out to businesses whose executives felt spurned in the first term and to ease pressure on Democratic donors who feel squeezed dry after the campaign. After the inaugural celebration’s expenses are paid, the remaining money could be used for an Obama foundation that would support his presidential library and other projects after he leaves office.”

DONOR APPOINTMENTS.The Times. “As Mr. Obama begins his second term in the White House, the donors and bundlers who raised more than a billion dollars to get him there are pressing hard for appointments.”

LOOK WHO’S TWEETING.Twitter. “While buzz about the Inauguration builds on Twitter, the legislative branch has some news of their own: as of today, all 100 members of the Senate as well as 90% (398 members) of the House of Representatives are on Twitter.”

ETHICS AGENDA STATUS.Roll Call. “Four years after President Barack Obama promised to change the culture of Washington, it’s hard to imagine how his ethics, transparency and campaign finance pledges could have backfired more thoroughly.”

FREE AIR TOTAL. Story here. “Belo Corp.’s television stations provided free airtime to 135 congressional and gubernatorial candidates across the U.S. during the 2012 election season through the company’s ‘It’s Your Time’ program.”

CA: EDITORIAL SUPPORTS REFORM. Here. “At a minimum, the commission should increase the relevant information provided and the frequency of reports to the public. Currently, only quarterly reports are required, and they show how much lobbyist employers spend and what bills they and their lobbyists seek to influence.”

FL: SWEEPING REFORMS PROPOSED. Story here. “Senate leaders filed a sweeping ethics reform package late Friday in an attempt to close dozens of loopholes in state laws.”

FL: CCE REFORM URGED. Story here. “Committees of Continuous Existence should be outlawed as one of several state campaign-finance reforms.”

ID: ETHICS COMMITTEE REFORM. Story here. “A five-person Ethics Committee which would be chosen by the majority and minority caucuses was proposed on behalf of House Speaker Scott Bedke Monday.”

NY: CFR. The Times. “If New Yorkers need another good reason to support a major cleanup of their state’s scandalously lax campaign finance laws, they need only look at the latest filing from Gov. Andrew Cuomo.”